The Rise of Realism

The Civil War and Postwar Period

1850 - 1900
The End of Idealism

 The outbreak of the Civil War brought an end

to the idealism and transcendentalism of the
pre-war period
 Emerson felt the Civil War would bring an
end to the evil of slavery
 Most Americans thought the Civil War would
only last a few months
The End of Idealism

 The first Battle of Bull Run, the first major

Civil War battle, established the war as
bloody and vicious
 Whitman viewed first hand the horror of war
by working with the many maimed and
wounded
Literature and the Civil War

 Despite the national magnitude of the Civil War, it

inspired almost no great literature
 Few famous writers had first hand knowledge of the
war
 Most famous writers of the day were far removed
from the war philosophically
 The greatest Civil War novel was The Red Badge of
Courage, written by Stephen Crane years after the
war was over
What is Realism?

 Discuss with the person next to you for a

couple of minutes.
Realism

 The post Civil War period saw the

exploitation of the South
 Impoverished, uneducated freed slaves
migrated to northern cities
 An industrial revolution was spawned by the
Civil War
 Poverty and slums grew around urban
industry
Realism

 Realists were a new breed of writers who

attempted to capture the minute details of the
common course of ordinary lives
 Realists explored why ordinary people lived
they way they did
 Realism was anti-Romantic by its very
definition
The Characteristics of Realism

 Portrayed common, ordinary people and situations

 Set in the present, not the past
 Examined the more difficult, tragic aspects of life
 Used highly descriptive, detail-focused writing to
create a word photograph
 Addressed subject matter normally avoided by the
Romantics
Regionalism

 Emphasized a specific geographic setting

 Emphasized the speech, manners, and
customs of a particular region
 Often realistic, but more often leaned toward
the sentimental and romantic
 Gave birth to realism
Naturalism

 Had its roots in European literature and

philosophy
 Influenced by new scientific theories on
psychology and sociology
 Viewed human behavior as an experiment to
be studied and dissected
 Believed that human life was a grim, losing
battle
The Characteristics of Naturalism

 Humans are a product of their biological

make-up and environment
 Humans have little, or no free will
 There is no God
 Powerful, outside forces control each
human’s fate
 Emphasis on the coarse, sordid, ugly side of
humanity
Kate Chopin

 A woman ahead of her

times
 Born in St. Louis –
independent thinker
 Awakening, her most
famous novel, was
banned
 At Fault – 1890
 Desiree’s baby -1897
Frederick Douglass

 Born into slavery

 Escaped slavery in his
20’s
 Self educated
 Wrote and gave
speeches
 Became internationally
famous
 A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
an American Slave - 1845
 "The Heroic Slave“ – 1853
 My Bondage and My Freedom – 1855
 Life and Times of Frederick Douglass – 1891
Ambrose Bierce

 Recognized for bravery

in the Civil War more
than 15 times
 Wrote for San
Francisco newspapers
after the war
 Became renowned for
his cynical writing
 Master of Magic
Realism
 IMPORTANT WORKS

 “The Haunted Valley”- 1871

 “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” 1891
 The Devil’s Dictionary- 1906
A collection of ironic and bitter definitions on
common words, as well as one of Bierce’s most
famous and enduring works.
STEPHEN CRANE
 Maggie: A girl of the streets – 1893
The story of an urban girl’s descent from the
slums to prostitution and her eventual death.

 The Red Badge of Courage – 1895

 The Open Boat – 1898
This short story was inspired directly by his
near-death experience in Cuba.
SAMUEL CLEMENS
AKA – MARK TWAIN
 “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County” – 1865
 Tom Sawyer – 1876
 Huckleberry Finn – 1884
 “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s
Court” – 1889
 “The man that corrupted Hadleyburg” - 1900
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS9-
HeIUa-M
Jack London

 Very adventurous youth

and teen years
 Self educated
 Amoral
 Passionate socialist
 Internationally famous
adventure writer
 Relevant works

 The Son of the Wolf – 1900

 Call of the wild – 1903
 White fang – 1906
 The Iron Heel – 1907
 To Build a Fire - 1908
 HW

 Create a comparative chart with the following

topics…
 Realism
 Regionalism
 Naturalism
 Idealism